[jaykay]

My ag merchant sells both. You need a big syringe and a wide needle too for the Calciject.

[clydesdaleclopper]

Okay have sent OH off to the ag merchant  How much do I give her?

[fsmnutter]

10ml combivit in muscle, 30ml calcium under skin on either side of ribs, i gave this to gossip for two days so 60ml each day.

[clydesdaleclopper]

We have a diagnosis!


I called on a chap who lives locally who is a vet though not working at the moment but has goat experience. He gave her a very thorough check up and it turns out she has dislocated the knee cap in her hind leg. The ligaments are so loose that when he moved it it just popped back out again. So it's a case of intensive nursing care to keep her moving from side to side plus massage so that she doesn't get sores and supporting her to stand to wee and poo until she kids and then hope that the change in hormones helps it all to firm up again, otherwise she will need surgery to correct it.


I really hope she doesn't go overdue as she is a large girl and heavy to lift.

[fsmnutter]

Well they do say animals take after their owners...
 
  for diagnosis, and sounds like she should be fine with the TLC until she kids

[clydesdaleclopper]

Well they do say animals take after their owners...
 

Yep I can certainly sympathise.


It's going to be difficult though as I had planned to move them into the stables for kidding but I don't see how I can get her up there. She is down in the bottom field and the shelter there is a huge pig arc (approx 20ft long) but there are badgers in that field so I really don't want her kidding down there. Also it kills my back bending down to go in and tend to her in the pig arc. Any ideas how we could move her?


Also do I leave her companion down there with her as she is due a week earlier and I had planned to bring them both up to the stables this weekend.

[jaykay]

Oh good, I'm glad you know what it is, and that she isn't 'ill' 

Might it be that her ligaments are already loosening up because of her pregnancy?

I'd move them both up to your stables now.

The way I move reluctant sheep is to put them in a quadbike trailer. If you haven't got a bike and trailer, the farmers around you will have such a thing - might one of them be prepared to help? When my ex was here and could drive the bike,  I would ride in the trailer with my animals, partly to stop them jumping about and partly to reassure them.

[Anke]

Wow - I haven't heard that before, but it does sound logical!

I would definitely move her up into stables, and yes as Jaykay says, see if you can carefully manoeuvre her into a trailer of some kind, and depending on access either quadbike or tractor/4 x4 and trailer. We often move our sheep in just the trailer with the high-sided mesh on, so no roof, and that works well. I guess she is not able to jump much at the moment... many farmers will also have one of the small trailers that they use to move one or two ewes and lambs to the field?

Good luck with her and hopefully it will sort itself out after kidding.

[Lesley Silvester]

So glad you have a diagnosis. Good luck with moving her but it is clearly the right thing to do.

[goosepimple]

Not something anyone would immediately think of!


I know when I had my first child I was practically crippled for about 3 months afterwards, seemingly this can be quite common (I'm not heavy sized) in humans.


It's amazing what producing offspring does to the body.  Hope she mends soon clydesdale.

[clydesdaleclopper]

Well we managed to move her up to the stable with the help of the brilliant BALLOCH. I am really worried about the long term prognosis for her though as if it doesn't improve after kidding it doesn't look good    I'm so stressed with it all.

[jaykay]

My step-daughter was on crutches for each of her pregnancies, due to too-early-relaxed ligaments in her legs and pelvis. And other folk have clearly had the same experience themselves.

I bet this improves after kidding for her.

And there's physio you can do to stabilise a kneecap too. If you need it post-kidding, I'll PM you the details.

[clydesdaleclopper]

Thanks Jaykay. I just hope we can get her through as she has still got quite a while to go and that's a long time to be down for.

[jaykay]

It is. Much as you'll feel you're hassling her, I would make her at least get up and take a turn around the stable  couple of times a day.

Would your vet prescribe painkillers (Metacam injections for example) now you know what it is? I don't know if they're safe in pregnant animals, but the vet would.

[clydesdaleclopper]

She is on Metacam at the moment but it doesn't seem to be helping much. I spoke to one of the BGS vets tonight and feel a bit calmer as he said he had a goat down for months with a bad back.


We are trying to roll her over or support her to get up 6 times a day and massaging her muscles but poor OH is having to do it as she is so heavy and I have a dodgy pelvis from the aftereffects of my pregnancies    I don't think this is going to help his dislike of the goats